


Hayloft

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 23:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3400847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shield is gone. They don't miss it, but they still care.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hayloft

They should have been sleeping. There were a billion reasons why they weren’t. It was a tiny, uncomfortable hayloft; the rain was too loud; they needed to stay alert; it was too cold; it was too humid; they weren’t tired. Having to lie pressed tight against each other wasn’t helping either, but they didn’t have enough room to take care of the effects that was having on each other.

“We never officially met, did we?” Victoria said thoughtfully, breaking the silence that was becoming more boring than comfortable. She shifted to cross her arms over her head, trying to stretch without kicking the loft apart. “Back when Shield was still intact.”

Akela shrugged. “I was never enough trouble to warrant it. Heard a lot about you though.”

“I heard about you. You were a little troublesome.”

Akela smiled, not out of fondness so much as something else. She didn’t know what. Her brief time with Shield hadn’t been miserable but it hadn’t been fun. She didn’t take orders well, which hadn’t earned her a favorable reputation whether she was right or not. Still, it had been a better home than anything she had before or after. But she liked this better, being on the run, at least now that Victoria was with her and she didn’t have to worry about being attacked in her sleep. She had a purpose again- taking down Hydra. She had someone to protect, and someone to protect her. She’d finally met someone she could cooperate with, someone who let her call the shots half the time.

“And you’re nicer than I thought you’d be.”

Victoria gave a little _Hm_ laugh, and Akela wondered why she never laughed properly. But then Akela had never found anything uproariously funny either. Too many jokes at their expense, perhaps.

“It’s not hard to be nicer than what you heard,” Victoria said. “But you’re smart; I don’t have to be mean with you.”

Akela wondered just what kind of agents Victoria had to deal with. That was the first hint she ever heard that she wasn’t the biggest pain in the ass in the organization. Coulson had told her stories about Barton of course, but he hadn’t exactly complained.

Akela and Victoria didn’t talk about Shield, not out of any conscious decision; it had simply never come up. Now that it had, they were surprised by how much they didn’t miss it. Because they hadn’t really left, had they? They were doing exactly the same work, except with far fewer distractions. It was just the two of them, and they made things work the way they wanted to; no argument. And it helped that they liked each other a lot. Made the whole situation far more bearable than it might have been.

Akela moved to lay her head on Victoria’s breast, trying to make more room by moving closer. It wasn’t comfortable. The air smelled like hay and rain and sweat. Every time they tried to warm each other up it got too hot and sticky. They didn’t care. They’d just keep shifting into more comfortable positions until they fell asleep, or until morning, whichever came first.

“Why were there so few loyal Shield agents left?” Akela asked. That was the part that bothered her most; not the loss of Shield itself, but the loss of Shield to Hydra. Nearly the entire agency was merely paying lip service, mocking the handful of Shield loyalists that remained.

“I don’t know.”

“Was there ever any point?”

“Of course there was. There still is.”

“I think we’re the only ones who still believe that.”

“At least we believe it. That’ll have to be enough.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

They fell back into silence for a while, staring up at the rafters. Akela turned her head to kiss the nearest peace of skin on Victoria that she could reach, which happened to be her chest, to say goodnight. Neither of them slept, but they weren’t that tired anyway.


End file.
